The present invention relates to toothpaste dispensers. Although the teachings of the present invention are particularly advantageous for elctrically operated dispensers, manual toothpaste dispensers can also be made based upon its teachings.
The ordinary toothpaste tube is a device that is simple and easy to use, and it has gained wide acceptance. In the hands of most adults, it provides neat as well as simple operation. However, children have proven themselves capable of employing the toothpaste tube in such a manner so as to cause a considerable mess. It is not uncommon for children to neglect to replace the cap on a toothpaste, thus sometimes allowing the toothpaste to leak out and more often allowing the toothpaste to dry out in the tube neck. Furthermore, children have a tendency not to squeeze the tube from the end opposite the mouth, and the result is wasted toothpaste. Leakage can also result from this type of squeezing because creases tend to turn up in parts of the tube that still contain toothpaste. For families with young children, then, a toothpaste dispenser can be an advantage if it makes dispensing the toothpaste simpler, and particularly if it reduces the occurrence of messes.
If a toothpaste dispenser is to gain acceptance, then, attention must be paid to reducing the possibility of leakage and waste of toothpaste. If a dispenser merely makes dispensing easier but is still likely to cause a mess, it is less likely to be accepted. The result of this requirement is that the toothpaste dispenser must provide an effective gate means at the tube outlet so as to prevent leakage, and it is desirable that the device be so designed that opening of the gate and dispensing of the toothpaste can be accomplished in a single operation.
Numerous devices have been proposed for achieving this result. For instance, there is illustrated in U.S. Letters Patent No. 2,830,733 to Garibaldi a toothpaste tube that opens automatically when the paste is squeezed out but is closed again when the squeezing operation is finished. However, this device requires that the toothpaste tube be quite a bit more elaborate than those that currently have found acceptance, and the Garibaldi device has not enjoyed widespread use.
An arrangement that provides opening of the gate means and squeezing of a conventional tube in a single operation is illustrated in U.S. Letters Patent No. 2,537,008 to Abbott. The Abbott device is quite simple, but it is thought that the pivotal cover that serves as a squeeze means does not provide sufficient control over the amount of toothpaste dispensed. This is a drawback in a manual arrangement, and it could be a serious problem in an electric dispenser.
An arrangement that affords more control over the amount of toothpaste dispensed is illustrated in U.S. Letters Patent No. 2,936,006 to Henley, in which a roll is rotated as it progresses down the dispenser to squeeze a conventional toothpaste tube from the end opposite the tube mouth. However, the Henley device requires a separate operation for opening of the gate means, and it will be seen by comparison to the device of the present invention that adaptation for automatic opening of the gate means upon squeezing would present some problems unless the teachings of the present invention were employed.
It is the object of the present invention to provide operation that is an improvement over that afforded by prior art devices. It is another object to permit relatively fine control over the amount of toothpaste dispensed while automatically opening the gate means in the same operation that provides the dispensing. It is still another object to avoid the application of pressure to the tube between operations and thus avoid leakage.